


Sekhmet's Adventure

by MandyMyfanwy



Series: Animals of Hogwarts [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cats, Gen, Just Add Kittens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-01 03:12:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14511300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MandyMyfanwy/pseuds/MandyMyfanwy
Summary: One of the Hogwarts kittens goes on an adventure through the castle.





	1. Chapter 1

The big forbidden door swung open, and the sound of chattering peoples filled the room. Sekhmet leapt to her feet, and padded her way across the blue, star-sprinkled carpet. Slipping between heavy-treading feet and under long, swishing robes, she darted through the door as it closed, her tail just slipping through before it closed with a loud thunk.

Freedom!

She paused. Eyes adjusted to the darkness gradually. Underpaw, the ground was cold and hard, not the warm and soft carpet she was used to. It was strange out here, and a little scary, but she was brave, and after all, a kitten's first duty is to explore the world and go on adventures, isn't it?

As she looked around her, she noticed that a little distance away in front of her the floor came to a sudden end! She crept closer, and looked over the edge curiously, where she saw another little piece of floor below. It was a big drop for a little kitten, but it looked like fun. Below that little floor, there was another, then another, curving away to the left as they went down. She wiggled her hips a little, testing her balance on the strange floor, then with a little hop she went down onto the next step.

She skidded a little on landing, and put her claws out for grip... they couldn't dig in! She just skidded across the stone, with no carpet to cling to, then slipped onto the next step down. She landed on her belly with a little thump. She mewed in surprise, then stood up carefully and shook herself out.

Right.

More carefully next time.

Forward again to the next edge, and she reached down, front paws stretching out in front of her, until she finally (and only just) reached the next step, then she brought her back paws down to follow with a little hop. No sliding this time. Good.

Another step. Reach, stretch, hop. Reach, stretch, hop.

Soon enough (or was it soon enough? She'd been climbing down these cold steps for a while now) she could see floor below her that wasn't another step, it was just floor. Still didn't look like nice warm carpet though, just more stone. Three more steps to go. Two more. Last step...

She paused, and looked about, sitting on that last step. Whiskers twitched as she sniffed the air. She shuffled back a little, and got into her very best pouncing posture. Crouch low. Eyes on the target. Wiggle the butt. JUMP!

A brief moment of hanging in the air, then she landed with all four paws on the little mote of dust that had caught her eye. Another successful hunt! ...but oh, she was still sliding. Perhaps a little too energetic a leap, there.

Luckily the corridor was nice and wide, and she stopped short of sliding into the other wall. As she skidded to a halt, claws scratching quietly against the smooth stone, her balance came out from under her and she fell over sideways, landing with a quiet thump and a tiny squeak.

The stone was cold against her fur, and hard. No wonder the people always put things on their feet before they left home, if they were walking on this all day. It was an interesting feeling, though, so she lay there for a little while, stretching out, rolling, and of course batting at dust motes that drifted by — you just have to bat at floaty dust motes.

She stopped, ears perking up. Footsteps! Twisting around to get to her feet, Sekhmet started off down the corridor in the other direction in a bouncy little jog. It would be nice to go a little faster, but the smooth stone was still a little too slippery. Best to be stealthy instead of quick.

Trotting along close to the wall made her feel safer, her blue-grey fur blending into the shadows. Wait. There's a people there... Why hadn't she heard them? They were standing very still. Normally the peoples she met were moving all over the place, unless they were asleep. But this one was standing up, just... not moving.

Creeping closer, she reached out her nose to sniff at their foot. It smelled of metal. A bat with a paw, carefully, and yes, metal. She looked up, but they were too tall, just a big tower of metal person.

They still hadn't moved, though. She batted at their foot again, harder this time, and still nothing. She tried batting at the people's ankle, always a favourite when they were late with food. There was a click, and slowly the back of the metal covering the people's leg slowly swung open. She stepped around to peer inside, and let out a little mew of surprise when she saw that there wasn't anyone inside!

She sniffed at it again, and still could only smell metal. An empty metal people-shape? This just demands exploration.

With a bat from her paw, the metal thing swung wider open, and she pushed her head inside, peering about curiously. One way, it got narrow where the was just a people-foot shape, but the other way, there was a tunnel going upwards, just big enough for her to climb into.

It was tight, but she slowly inched her way up the inside of the leg, paws and back pressed hard against the cold metal to hold her steady. As the brave, intrepid explorer climbed, the tunnel got wider, and then it stopped! Peering about curiously, she could just see another tunnel next to this one — probably the other leg, she guessed — while further up there was a much bigger space, the metal people-tummy. Harder to climb. She sniffed at the walls curiously — they were fabric! Now this was much easier.

Tiny claws pierced the cloth as she started to climb up again, pausing every few climbing steps upwards to sniff around, and to peer behind her curiously. When she was about half way up, she leant back to see what she could see behind and below her. There was a little ripping noise, and her paws started to pull out of the fabric! Even putting her claws out all the way didn't quite catch her.

A short fall, and she landed on top of the two metal leg-tubes with a thump and a clatter. She lay there a moment, but one of the two legs started to move under her! With a mew of surprise, she jumped up, claws digging deeply into the fabric of the people-tummy shaped wall. Below her, there was a long series of very loud clatters and bangs as the leg that had moved kept moving, all the way to the ground.

The sound echoed through the corridor for longer than it seemed like it should have, and seemed even louder inside the metal person shape thing.

Her heart racing, Sekhmet clung to the wall, claws digging slightly deeper as she hung there. As the sound gradually faded, she started to climb aga—... she tried to start to climb again, but her claws had dug so deep into the fabric that she couldn't quite pull them free again.

Tug at the paw... tug tug... slowly, gradually, she could feel her claws coming free of the fabric. One paw down, three to go.

From outside of the metal person somewhere, there came a harsh, angry meow. Another cat! An adult cat, too, and one in a pretty bad mood. Better hurry.

Next paw. Tug, tug. Free! Lightly grip the wall again. Don't fall off. Another paw. Tug, tug.

Another meow from outside. Closer this time. Still angry. Her tail lashed side to side as she concentrated on the task.

Third paw comes free. One more to go.

Her last paw was stuck the deepest. Tug, tug. Shake, shake. Pull! A little ripping noise. She started to climb again, trying to disappear into the shadows above. The cat outside meowed grumpily again, and seemed to be almost here.

At the top of her climb, she looked down, trying to shrink as small as she could as she hid. Yellow lamp-like eyes peered up at her. This cat, with their dusty-coloured fur, looked like their people didn't quite feed them as much as they should — but then, whose peoples ever did feed them as much as they should? Sekhmet was, right at this moment, not even eating anything! She stayed as still as possible, waiting to see what the other cat would do. But they just sat there, peering up at her, tail lashing slowly.

What now?


	2. Chapter 2

Below her, she could still see the other cat looking up at her with their big, yellow, lamp-like eyes. They looked like they had the patience to just sit there, waiting, for as long as it took for her to come down. She decided to name them Corridor Scary Cat.

Sekhmet pulled herself a little closer into the wall that she was clinging to, trying to hold on as best as she could without digging her claws in so deep that she got stuck again. What to do next, though?

Looking away from the scary cat below her, she peered at what was ahead of her, further up the people-shaped space. The nice climbable fabric stopped, and the neck hole looked just big enough to crawl into... if she could just get to it without falling down.

As she crept a little closer to the hole, her claws started to pull out of the fabric no matter how she dug them in. Hm. No climbing on the overhang. So much for that plan.

She looked down again, and those big eyes were still looking up in her direction. Could they see her? It was dark here, and her fur was good for tiny kitten stealthiness, but somehow she could feel those eyes burrowing into her even as she hid.

So, she had to escape. But how?

Above, there was a precarious leap into a hole she might not be able to catch herself on.

Below, those yellow eyes staring up at her.

Along the corridor somewhere, there was the sound of some peoples, laughing with each other as they went along. The cat below her looked away, turning to face where the peoples must surely be. The noise stopped.

An opportunity!

With a little preparatory wiggle of the butt, Sekhmet let go of the nice fabric wall, pouncing straight at the hole and the cat below. Good angle. Paws towards the target. Claws retracted (let's not make things worse).

As the bigger cat turned their attention back to Sekhmet's hidey-hole, she emerged, landing squarely on their face.

There was an angry yowl, and Sekhmet started running as fast as she could down the corridor, not caring about what direction she went, so long as it was AWAY, her claws leaving little scratch marks on the polished stone as she ran.

Behind her, she could hear Corridor Scary Cat chasing her. Their legs were longer, but her head start and the adrenaline of terror meant that she was managing to keep out in front for now.

Wall ahead. She had to turn. Left? Right? Corner's coming. Left! Turn... claws skid on stone. Keep running. Bounce off the wall, don't stop. Slightly open door! Perfect!

Paws skidding on the smooth stone, she darted inside the door, then jumped behind the nearest solid-looking piece of furniture.

Stop. Catch breath. Panting, after that run. Not usually many good runs at home, not enough space.

The door creaked open slightly more. She caught her breath, trying to be stealthy again. Had the other cat seen her go into here?

She looked around, and saw that, behind the big wooden furniture thing, there was just enough space for her to squeeze. She pushed herself in, wriggling a little to get all the way.

Finally, she was hidden.

Wait. Tail.

She wriggled a little further forward, until she could pull her tail out of sight as well, then stopped, listening.

There was something in the room. Probably the other cat.

She waited.

Her ears straining, she could just hear the quiet steps around the room. The quiet sniffs. Corridor Scary Cat was looking for her.

She realised, as she pondered the matter in her safe little hidey-hole, that pouncing directly onto the other cat's face was probably not the best idea that she'd ever had. They seemed rather angry about it. But, when you gotta pounce, you gotta pounce.

She waited there. It was boring here, behind the big wooden thing. There was some dust, but it was just sitting there. And besides, she couldn't pounce it while wedged in so snugly, and she couldn't bat at it without making enough noise to let the other cat find her.

A little wiggle to try to get more comfortable, and she found that she could move upwards in the narrow space, pressed against the wall and the wood. Wiggle wiggle. The sounds of Corridor Scary Cat prowling the room were still faintly audible, so she paused after each little wiggle wiggle to make sure they hadn't found her.

As she neared the top, she took a longer pause, listening intently. She could hear the other cat still, but instead of the prowling around the room, they seemed to be wandering over to the door. Hopefully, something more interesting was going on somewhere else, and Sekhmet could escape soon.

She waited there, still hidden but stuck half way up the wall, waiting to make sure that Corridor Scary Cat had actually left.

It was still quiet, so she continued her wiggled climb up behind whatever bit of furniture it was she'd put herself behind. As she reached the top, she pulled herself up onto the nice flat surface on top of it... and found herself looking straight into those big yellow eyes again.

Corridor Scary Cat was waiting for her.

Claws skidding on the polished wood, she dashed towards the door again, as the other cat's paw came batting down at where her head had been. It was a long way down, but she leapt from the edge, and landed with a thwump and a slide, stopped only by sliding into the door itself.

She got up, shook herself out for a moment, then with a glance up to Corridor Scary Cat — who was just starting their own leap down to follow her — she took off down the corridor again. 

Well, she was certainly getting her exercise for today, that's for sure.

With the sound of paws on stone behind her, she ran, ignoring all the doors beside her. Hiding didn't work, have to just run.

Eep, peoples!

In front of her there was a cluster of feet and legs and long swishy robes. She pounced her way between them, not looking up to see what they were up to. Behind her, the noise of the other cat chasing her stopped. There was a quiet, angry mrrowl, followed by the noise of surprised and worried peoples.

Looking back, she saw Corridor Scary Cat glaring at the peoples, then they turned and started to trot off in the other direction. The peoples scattered! Apparently they were afraid of that cat too. Good thing she'd apparently escaped.

She moved back to the shadows near the wall, and sat down for a moment, to get her breath back. She had no idea where she was, of course. Time for more exploring!


End file.
